Steering-check.



No. 855.463. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.`

HLLEMP.

STEBRING CHECK.- APPLIOATION PILED' SEPT. 10,' 1906.

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UNITED 'sTATEs PATENT OFF-ron,

HERMANN LEMP, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK;

STEEIRING-CHECKL Specficaton of LettersPatent.

Patented June 4,1907.

Application filedSeptember 10, 1906. Serial No. 333.924.

a 1pivoted piston is confined in a closed casing fil ed with 1 quid and is provided with val'ves to, permit it to oscillate to and fro in said casing; said valves being controlled. by a shaft journaled in the tubular hub of the piston.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a steering check of this general typeembodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a section through one of the fastening bolts on the line 2, 2, Fig. 4; Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3, 3, Fig. 1; and Fig. '4 is a cross-section on the line 4, 4, Fig. 1.

The casing 1 is provided with lugs 2 by means of which it is Secured to some portion .of the vehicle frame, such as the front axle 3.

The piston 4 fits snugly between the flatjbotrtom 5 of the casing and the under surface of the inner cover 6, which rests'on the shoulder 7 in the casing. This shoulder is inset, so that .the cover is smaller than the upper chamber of the casng. The customary crescent-shaped filling block 8 is Secured in lace by dowellpins 9 and resents a surface' n contact with'the end of t e piston and concentric with the axis of the hub 10 of said piston. This hub extends up through a sleeve 11 integral. with the inner cover and' through a suitable hole in the 'outer cover 12. Secured to said hibis the'lever 13 which is suitably connected With the steering check, so that the latter are looking in position until the piston is moved. A shaft 14 is journaled in the hub and carries. at-its-lower end an arm 15 which actuates the rocker 16 foropening the valves in the piston. 'The shaftis rotatedby' the lever '17, from which motion is imparted to the laver 13 and piston 4'through spring buffers in the 'usual manner.

At a point just below the level of the liquid inthe upper chamber above the i'ner cover,

the shaft is reduced in diameter to receive a packing 18 which is preferably a soft fibrous cord wound around the shaft, with its ends' Secured by 'forcingthem into holes 19 in said shaft. Above this packed portion there is an annular chamber 20 surrounding the shaft, preferably formed partly in the shaft and partly in the hub, as shown. This chamber registers With a radial hole 21 in the hub of the piston, which opens into the upper chamber of the cas'ing above :the level of the liquid therein: the sleeve 1-1 being' cut away so as not to cover said hole. e i

A duet 22 is drilledthrough said sleeve just i above the innerfcover and' registers with a radial passage 23 in the hub. The shaft, which otherwise has a snug fit in the hub, is slabb'ed ofl` onthis side at24 from just above said hole down to' a point within the cavity. 25 in the piston. (A ball valve 26 is located in the assage, seatng against a bushing 7 or the 1ke, and opening toward the shaft.

One of the bolts 28 which holds down the inner cover is long enough to protrude through the outer cover, as shown in Fig. 2, and is tapped into a tubular threadeLboss 29 on the bottom of the casing The end of the boss is closed from the outside' by a pipe-. 'plug 30.

The purpose 'and operation of these im'- provements' is as follows: hen the .piston is moved ra idly, the pressure on the liquid in front of tl e piston forces said liquid into the cavity in the piston, from which it is not so freely sucked into the other chamber, owing v to the fact that it cannot pass the valves fast enough. There is, therefore, a slight cvacuum in the chamber behind' the piston, and' this tends to suck 'air down between the shaft' and the sleeve: At the same time, the liquid forcedinto the cavity in the piston tends to i escape into the upper chamber or even' up through between the shaft and the hub.

"The tendency to enter the upper chamber is now prevented by the check valve 26, which, however, does not obstructfthe flow of liqud IOO from thetupper chamber into the piston cavitywhen required The suction of air down along the haft, or theexit of liquid up past' it,'is prevented bythe packng 18, and by the' close fit given the sha'ft in the hub. In case,`

however, any liquid should get by the packing, it is returned to the upper chamber through the groove ZO and the ole 21. .This

construction is found to overcome all tend: ency of the device to act as a pump and 'empty the casng. Moreover, t nsures keeping the checking chanber full of liquid' by drawing it down past the ball valve.

The check can be cleaned Without taking it apart. To eflect this, the bolt 28 and the pipe plug '30 are removed, allowing all the lquid to-run out of the casing. The device, can then be Washed out with alcohol or gaso lene, V the pipe plug replaced, fresh i lquid filled in through the bolt hole in the upper cover, and the bolt re-inserte d.

When the check is taken apart, the insetting of the shoulder 7 insures plenty of clearance for the inner cover` after it has been liited about quarter of an inch, permitting it to bereinoved'very easily. i

What I claim as new and desire to secure' by Letters Patent of the United States, is,-.

' 1. A steering check, comprising a casing, a

piston m'ovable therein and provided With a cavity, a hub on said. piston containing apassage connecting the upper part of the casing with said cavty, and acheck valve in said passage opening toward said cavity.

2. A steering check, comprising a casing, an'inner cover having a sleeve containing a duct, a piston movable under said cover and having acavty, a hub on said pistonrotatable in said sleeve and having a passage registerng vyth said duct and communcatn With said cavitfy, and a passage. y

3. A steerng check, comprisng a casing, 'a piston movable therein and containing a cavcheck valve in sai seance ity, a hub on .said piston, a sh aft jouraled in said hub and entering said cavity, and packing surrounding said shaft above said cavity.

4:. A steerng check, comprising a casing, a pisten movable theren and contanng a cavity, a hub on said pisten, a shaft fitting I snugly in said hub and enterng said cavty' and having a reduced portion above said cavity, and Facking surrounding said reduced portion o the shaft.

5. A steerng check, comprising a casing 'having upper and lower chambers, a piston in said lower chamber, a hub on said pisten extendng into the'upper chanber, a shaftfitting in said hub, an annular chamber surrounding said shaft, and a radial hole in said hub registerng With said chamber and open-.

In Witness v'vhereof, I have here-unto set my hand this Seventh day of September, 1906..

HERMANN LEMP.

Witnesses: i

JOHN A. MCMANUS, Jr:,` HENBY O WESTENDARP. 

